Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase in San Jose talks about Elvis Presley limited edition guitars. There’s a Martin D28 with a accessory leather body jacket. This is one of 175 — to celebrate Martin’s 175th year. There is also a guitar from Elvis’ Las Vegas years. Yep, this Gibson J200 screams ‘Vegas.’ Then there is a little Martin small body collectible.

This was the continuation of a lesson with Robert where we were talking about various aspects of music and composition but got a bit sidetracked into the history of lap steel guitars, particularly relating to a 1920 Weissenborn that I bought as a teenager. The rest of this lesson/conversation is part of our Fly On The Wall Series.

My long-time, part-time student Robert came in for a lesson, his first in a year or so, with an old guitar he had recently purchased, a Martin 0-18 from 1926. We spent a few minutes at the beginning talking about it and some of its charistics. This led us into a discussion about melodies and I brought out my 1920 Weissenborn, which took us into a discussion about that guitar, which is now another Vintage Snapshot.

Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase show us a new Gretsch Tennessee Rose. After Chet Atkins passed away, Gretsch restablished a relationship with his heirs. This is one of results with the vintage tone and looks of a classic Gretsch.

Jack Van Breen from Guitar Showcase plays a 1964 model 6192 Gretsch Country Club hollow body. And does this guitar have tone! When Jack first saw Neil Young play, he had one of these — Jack channels Neil with “Mr. Soul” and “For What it’s Worth.”

Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase show us a replica 1957-58 Gretsch Duo Jet. Before the Filtertron pickups, there were Dynasonic Pickups. Made of a chambered mahogany body, the Duo Jet model 6128 is one of Gretsch’s most sought after guitars.

Jack Van Breen from Guitar Showcase plays a 1964 model 6192 Gretsch Country Club hollow body. And does this guitar have tone! When Jack first saw Neil Young play, he had one of these — Jack channels Neil with “Mr. Soul” and “For What it’s Worth.”

Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase show us three lap steel guitars and a Fender Resonator. We have some rare ones today. There’s a very nice sounding Hawaiian guitar with a date of 1920 on the inside. Then we have a 1930s National Tri-Cone resonator metal guitar. Also in this group is a sweet sounding Dobro lap steel. To round things out, there’s a Fender Resonator you play like a regular guitar.

Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase has a couple of real veterans from their vintage collection. These are early 1930s Rickenbacker Frying Pan lap steel guitars. This is a fascinating story of the innovators of both the first successful electrified guitar and also the resonator guitar. Jack has both a 6 string and 7 string Rickenbackers, the first guitars from a company that’s still going strong.

Jack van Breen from Guitar Showcase shows us a real veteran an 1936-1939 Gibson EH-150 lap steel. EH stands for “Electric Hawaiian” the birthplace of slack key guitar. This is the first true production Gibson electric guitar model. With a tobacco sunburst finish, this one has the famous Gibson “Charlie Christian” bar pickup. And you talk about tone- played through a Fender SuperSonic 22 amp, this thing has tone to burn. It’s truly amazing.